Quebec has therefore become the only North American jurisdiction to recognize the risks of marketing to children by integrating sections 248 and 249 to the Consumer Protection Act (CPA),1 in force since 1980.

To determine whether or not an advertisement is directed at children, account must be taken of the context of its presentation as defined by the following three criteria and explained in the Application Guide, which gives examples for illustrative purposes:

a) nature and destination of the product advertised (What?, For whom?);
b) way of presenting the advertisement (How?);
c) time or place it is shown (When?, Where?).

Exceptions

As the provisions of the law on advertising to children have existed for over 30 years, and although they were among the first in the world to have been adopted, some improvements would be desirable to make them more effective.

Unfortunately, exceptions, such as displays, containers, packaging and labels of several food products full of advertisements (e.g.: funny pictures, characters, cross-promotion of small or big screen heroes, direct allusions to fun or games on the packaging, funny names, puzzles or games for children, unusual shapes / colors / taste, childish display, etc.) are used to circumvent the spirit of the CPA and target young peoople.

Given the many health problems associated with poor-quality diets and the fact that 89% of food products for children in Canadian supermarkets have low nutritional value, these exceptions to the CPA, which negatively influences the children’s eating habits, should be reviewed.4

Moreover, a majority of Quebecers would like stronger enforcement of the CPA regarding advertising to children. At the federal level, the Stop Marketing to Kids Coalition advocates for a legislation similar to that of Quebec.